U.S. crude oil and fuel stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Seven analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 2.1 million barrels in the week to Sept. 27.

The poll was conducted ahead of a report from the American Petroleum Institute industry group at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday and one from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

Crude stocks dropped by 4.5 million barrels to 413 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 20, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.

Analysts estimated stockpiles of gasoline USOILG=ECI fell by over 500,000 barrels last week, while distillate inventories USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, were expected to have decreased by about 1.9 million barrels.

The rate of refinery utilization USOIRU=ECI was estimated to have decreased by 0.7 percentage point from 90.9% of total capacity in the previous week, the poll found.

All figures for stocks are in millions of barrels. Refinery rate changes are measured in percentage points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru, Editing by Marguerita Choy)